Celia (TV series)

Celia
Series' opening title
Also known as	El mundo de Celia
Genre	Children's series, Drama
Created by	José Luis Borau
Written by	Elena Fortún (original author) José Luis Borau, Carmen Martín Gaite
Directed by	José Luis Borau
Starring	Cristina Cruz Mínguez, Ana Duato, Pedro Díez del Corral
Narrated by	Cristina Cruz Mínguez (Celia; first person)
Opening theme	"Hay en madrid una niña"
Composer(s)	Carmen Santonja, Gloria Van Aerssen
Country of origin	Spain
Original language(s)	Spanish
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producer(s)	José López Rodero
Location(s)	Madrid, Spain
Cinematography	Magín Torruella
Running time	45 minutes
Release
Original network	Televisión Española
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	1992

Celia is a Spanish children's television series created by José Luis Borau in 1992 for the national Spanish public-service channel Televisión Española. It is based on the classic Spanish children's novels of the same name by Elena Fortún, primarily Celia, lo que dice (1929) and Celia en el colegio (1932). The books and television series tell the stories of a wild seven-year-old girl named Celia Gálvez de Moltanbán. In addition to focusing on Celia, the show touched lightly on Spanish life in the 1930s, such as the upcoming civil war, a changing nation, and the social issues and ideas at the time.

Cristina Cruz Mínguez was cast as the titular character, and the script was adapted by author and screenwriter Carmen Martín Gaite. The creator, Borau, directed and produced the series. Though successful when it originally premiered, Celia was cancelled after six episodes. The sixth and final episode ended with a "to be continued" (Continuará), but the following episode has yet to be released.

After the "Celia" books by Elena Fortún had been brought to his attention by Spanish author and screenwriter Carmen Martín Gaite, director and producer José Luis Borau insisted on together creating a television adaptation of Fortún's works; Gaite wasn't convinced easily and was not sure the project would work. When the project was finally green-lit by Televisión Española, a search was begun for the right seven-year-old girl to play the title role of Celia; The then inexperienced Cristina Cruz Mínguez was chosen out of over 2,000 girls that had auditioned for the part, though some sources indicate an approximate of 3,000 girls. Many of the girls not chosen to play the title role were instead cast as other important and less important girls in the series, such as María Teresa, Celia's friend. A television documentary was produced and entitled "Buscando a Celia" ("Searching for Celia"), which showed the odyssey of finding the right "Celia"; the documentary contained brief interviewes with many different girls and some of their parents as well. When broadcast, the short documentary served as effective publicity for the upcoming series.